outgrow
Americanverb (used with object)
-
outgrows,
present (3rd person singular)
-
outgrew,
past
-
outgrown,
past participle
-
outgrowing
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
outgrows,
present (3rd person singular)
-
outgrew,
past
-
outgrown,
past participle
-
outgrowing
present participle
verb
-
to grow too large for (clothes, shoes, etc)
-
to lose (a habit, idea, reputation, etc) in the course of development or time
-
to grow larger or faster than
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
outgrowsimple
-
outgrowssimple
-
have outgrownperfect
-
has outgrownperfect
-
am outgrowingprogressive
-
are outgrowingprogressive
-
is outgrowingprogressive
-
have been outgrowingperfect progressive
-
has been outgrowingperfect progressive
Past
-
outgrewsimple
-
had outgrownperfect
-
was outgrowingprogressive
-
were outgrowingprogressive
-
had been outgrowingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of outgrow
Explanation
To outgrow something is to become too big to fit in it, or to grow too mature for it. Most college students have outgrown their affection for stuffed animals. If they haven't, they might have a hard time making friends in the dorm. As you grow older and bigger, you outgrow all kinds of things: clothing, your childhood bed, your ice skates. You'll also outgrow many things in the sense of being too old for them to be appropriate or as appealing as they were when you were younger. Just about everyone outgrows their favorite picture books and cartoons eventually. The earliest meaning of outgrow was "surpass in growth" or "grow faster than."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
However, “once you get to a certain point, you traditionally will outgrow a robo adviser.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
“Consumption can’t outgrow income indefinitely, especially when the savings rate is already at rock-bottom level.”
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
Rabo is one of the largest lenders to food producers to finance their land, equipment and daily operations, often after they outgrow a local bank.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
This competition pushed early crops to develop traits that helped them outgrow and outcompete neighboring plants, offering new insight into how crops evolve and how they might be improved in the future.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 8, 2026
“The doctor said at some point I might outgrow them.”
From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin
Her character arc implicitly concedes this when she outgrows some of her early ways in the third act.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026
When he outgrows that, he said, they’ll remove the fake grass and put in something else — Margaret is thinking about an herb garden.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2024
If the stalk outgrows the jar, move it to a larger one.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 10, 2023
Like a hug from a loved one, no one outgrows the comfort of chicken parm.
From Salon ● Feb. 3, 2023
“You’re only five years old. Wait till you’re older. Maybe Ruti will give you her boots when she outgrows them, like she gives you her dresses.”
From "Lucky Broken Girl" by Ruth Behar
His sons, Dino and Mayce, eventually outgrew the game, but Tomlin’s interest increased.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
While banks’ credit-card loans sharply outgrew nominal gross domestic product after the pandemic, their growth has more recently been trailing GDP, according to Fed data.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
OpenAI represents something that Musk has rarely had to contend with: a success story that outgrew him.
From Slate ● Apr. 30, 2026
The song became so popular it outgrew the film to become a national obsession.
From BBC ● Jan. 28, 2026
“Did she ever come back after you outgrew her?”
From "Crenshaw" by Katherine Applegate
You’re trying to wrap up a work call while bagging your kid’s outgrown clothes when a ping comes in from a parent chat — soccer registration just opened and spots are filling fast.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
By 2019, the event had outgrown the city's famous Gay Village.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
The contribution limit of $5,000 annually makes this accessible as birthday and holiday gifts rather than traditional presents that get outgrown or spent.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 9, 2026
By then, the national story was one of disinvestment: deferred maintenance, fiscal crises, crime and a general sense that big public systems were what Europe did and America had outgrown.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
Mine don’t fit right anyway, since in the spirit of waste-not-want-not that rules 13, I was issued a pair someone had outgrown.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
When discussing JPM, Stucky said: “They are not managing to be the most efficient, but they have been outgrowing the industry by directing capital to where it will benefit the most in the longer run.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 11, 2026
Aggressive expansions typically come with plenty of risk: an immediate strain on resources, profit instability, and possibly outgrowing the existing business model.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
Yet the population was outgrowing its code, and housing demand soared.
From Barron's ● May 31, 2026
The pandemic had set in and his then-10 parrots were fast outgrowing their London house.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 4, 2026
The problem was that composers were outgrowing not just the old modes and the restrictions placed on them but also the complicated system of tuning that allowed instruments to play in different keys.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
